The pedestrian who died in a Metrobus crash in Bailey’s Crossroads on Sunday (Aug. 16) appears to have been properly following the rules of the road, police say.
An initial investigation found that Adam Ali, a 59-year-old Idylwood resident, had a “walk” signal and was using the crosswalk on Carlin Springs Road when a bus driver turning right from Columbia Pike struck him, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
“Detectives determined that the driver of a 2022 New Flyer Metro bus was traveling eastbound on Columbia Pike and stopped at a red traffic signal at Carlin Springs Road,” the FCPD said yesterday (Tuesday) in a press release. “When the traffic signal turned green, the driver began making a right turn onto Carlin Springs Road.”
Officers responded to the crash at 8:32 p.m. Ali was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.
No injuries were reported to the driver of the Metrobus, who remained at the scene of the crash. The bus was serving the heavily used F20 route between Tysons and Alexandria, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority previously confirmed to FFXnow.
“Preliminarily, alcohol and drugs do not appear to be factors for the driver,” the FCPD said. “Detectives from our Crash Reconstruction Unit continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash.”
The bus driver’s current status with WMATA is unclear, as a spokesperson for the transit agency said it’s “unable to comment on personnel matters.”
Virginia law generally gives the right-of-way to pedestrians, requiring drivers to halt until walkers have exited the lane where they’re stopped. Pedestrians are directed to cross at intersections or marked crosswalks “wherever possible” and to adhere to pedestrian control signals, among other rules, but the state decriminalized “jaywalking” in 2021.
Ali was one of five pedestrians killed in crashes in the D.C. region within a three-day span over the past week, and he appears to be the 13th pedestrian killed in Fairfax County so far this year.
Preliminary state data shows 11 such fatalities but hasn’t been updated to include Sunday’s crash. In addition, only three deaths are listed for June, even though four pedestrians were killed in two days that month, bringing the total to that point up to 10.
The Columbia Pike and Carlin Springs Road intersection was previously the site of a fatal pedestrian crash in August 2019. In that incident, Alexandria City resident Solomon Zelelew was walking on a sidewalk when a driver on Columbia Pike swerved to avoid colliding with another vehicle and hit him, police said.
Community members have repeatedly raised concerns about the safety of the Columbia Pike corridor. Per state data, 11 people, including Ali, have now been killed in crashes on the approximately 4.5-mile stretch of the road in Fairfax County since 2010.
A 2018 study of the road from Annandale through Bailey’s Crossroads recommended several improvements to make it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, but the county’s Board of Supervisors didn’t approve plans for upgrades until January 2023. The “Complete Streets” project’s first phase involves the additions of a sidewalk and crosswalk between Backlick Road and Tom Davis Drive in Annandale.
The board authorized staff to exercise the county’s eminent domain powers to obtain the land rights needed for the project at its Nov. 18, 2025 meeting.
Traffic camera image via Dave Statter/X
